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April 22, 2013

The Swamp of Insignificance....

[Image: How High The Bar, 2008, JA Van Devender]

Image taken, Scottish Games, Annapolis, MD.

Mark 15:3–5 (NKJV)

3 And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. 4 Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!” 5 But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.

There is a character in Ivan Turgenev's classic work "Fathers and Sons" named Kirsanov Sitnikov. In Turgenev's spare and penetrating prose, he is presented as a man of no consequence, with little of his own to recommend him in physical or mental prowess, and who yet desperately wants to be accepted as "somebody." In his own mind having nothing on his own to gain respect, he tries to have himself associated with Yevgeny Vassilyev Bazarov, another young man of overwhelming vanity, cynical disregard for authority ( a nihilist) and self-possession. Sitnikov tries to "put-on" the airs of Bazarov, imitating his style and contemptous manner. Sitnikov views Bazarov as a man of "significance" and his desperate and pitiful imitation fools no one. Sitnikov embodies the restless yearning of ordinary people who see themselves trapped in mediocrity and who long for significance.

This is not, I believe, an uncommon circumstance. I remember a famous actor who once commented something to the effect, "The only time I feel like I am 'somebody' is when I am on the stage or screen playing someone else." Worldly fame, significant professional reputation, glamorous lifestyle, and an abundance of money did not satisfy. Everyday, when this man looked at the mirror, in effect, he saw Kirsanov Sitnikov looking back at him. He was nothing... insignificant... of no real consequence... a piece of driftwood drifting down the river of life.

What is "significance"? Well speaking only for myself, you may disagree, I think "significance" is almost entirely a matter of self-perception. Have you noticed that most people whom we might agree are "significant" persons, aren't usually very dubious about that themselves? That person, almost invariably, as did Bazarov in Turgenev's story, just assumes their own "significance"... it is the fountain from which all their actions and conversations flow.

"Significance" in the eyes of others is recognition of that privately held prior assumption. And it is recognizable.

Pilate, a man of some worldly confidence and reputation, a man who was known to Caesar, a man who held no doubts about his own significance, was, never the less, immediately aware that this soiled and bloodied Galilean peasant who stood before him was a man of significance also. He marveled at the man's composure and calm resolve. Pilate failed to recognize the far greater "significance" of this man than himself and thus his name became a by-word for failed courage, but we should not miss the underlying dynamic. "Significance" is perceived by others when it is first grasped by ourselves, regardless of our external accomplishments or obvious lack thereof. It is a matter of self-perception.

Here is where we Christians may perhaps need to change some of the ways we think about ourselves. Sitnikov was a pitiable man. Pilate would not have respected him for an instant and there would have been no struggle in his conscience about what to do with him. He would not have wasted his time. Our Christian witness in this world will not be promoted if our views of our own "insignificance" are such that we are pitiable also. Furthermore, those views are lies. It is a false humility which denies our own significance in the Kingdom of God. It is an error to think that our own lack of merit, in and of ourselves, which requires that our salvation be of grace and grace alone, thereby means that we are without "value" or "significance" to God.

Christians of all people should understand that any person for whom the greatest possible price has been paid for their redemption must be significant... significant to Christ, significant to God the Father and significant to God the Holy Ghost. Why else would such a price be paid except in their own inscrutable counsels, the eternal Triune God, saw us as signficant... significant to them.

Human beings, above all other of God's creatures, are significant, just by virtue of bearing the image of God. Christians, at another level, are significant because out of the mass of human beings, they have been elevated to the status of sons and daughters of the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What a humbling thought... yes... and so it must be. But it would be arrogant to despise what Christ has done. It is a poor witness to act as if, just because we did not first "deserve" such an honor, that the honor itself has not been bestowed. Our significance is in our person... we are objects of delight for our Father in heaven. We do not have to "act like" some other sinner ... we are to strive to conform the image of Christ but never to conform to the image of another mortal.

Fie on that paralyzing doubt that Satan uses to undermine our witness. Embrace the teachings of Ephesians 1 about who we are... each of us... in Christ. Our significance has been established and boldness in thought, action and speech are to burst forth from that privilege we have been given, the grace in which we stand. We stand, with our brothers and sisters, as the focal point of history... the end result of the grand design of God to create a people unto Himself. It is not arrogance to embrace that truth.

Comments

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It is easy to get caught up in what the world thinks of what it means to be significant. It is also disheartening when other Christians count you as insignificant because of what you are doing with your life. On a good day I ignore that, pay attention to my circumstances and resources, and I find my life significant because I try to do what God wants me to be doing. That doesn't replace the ultimate significance that you describe above but it seems to counteract the false significance that the world presents.